Adapt
by lynn.reist
Summary: Because fate is often cruel. Yuffentine.


_Author's Note: Three part story. Yuffie and Vincent fluff. Ish. Enjoy!!_

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"Coffee?"

Vincent glanced up to his left, where Yuffie held two cups of coffee from the vender on the ground floor of the WRO headquarters. "Thank you," he responded graciously, eagerly accepting the drink from her, taking a sip and moving the small collection of papers off of the seat he had saved for her next to him.

She took care of him well. She knew he needed coffee first thing in the morning to keep him in a generally complacent mood throughout the day, just as he knew that for her to be able to function coherently she needed to eat something for breakfast, which she intrinsically neglected to do at home.

She maneuvered into the chair, sitting down with a long yawn, smiling thankfully as he handed her half of his muffin. "You're entirely too good to me, Vinners."

They woke up together slowly, nibbling and sipping in companionable quiet, as had become a regular morning routine.

"You know," Yuffie whined, "He always calls us in early and is _always_ late himself."

Vincent grunted in agreement, slumping slightly in his seat. Her head automatically rested on his shoulder and he found himself smiling as she settled against him more comfortably.

"Think he has an assignment for us yet? I am so _sick_ of this city."

He understood where she was coming from. They had given their word to Reeve in being available for the WRO efforts, but the post-war security efforts were drawing closed and there was not much else for two hired combatants to do.

"I hope so," he answered. He too was starting to feel the limits of Edge. Even so close to Midgar, there was something about the city's walls that was restricting, and Vincent had given up on restriction for the time being.

Yuffie had a large part to do with it. She was all about wide open spaces and freedom, and she helped him to recognize the insanity of thirty years wasted in a box.

"Maybe he'll send us to Gongaga," she offered. "It's warm there this time of year."

"Don't get your hopes up."

The two of them sat up straighter, turning their heads to Reeve, who had just come in through the door, dampening their spirits.

"Good morning, Yuffie, Vincent."

"Morning, Reevey!" Yuffie greeted. "Please tell me you have something for us to do."

He sat behind his desk and rearranged a few things before looking back up and smiling innocently. "Well, kind of."

Vincent and Yuffie exchanged a look.

"You're both well aware of the status of Deepground, and you'll be happy to hear that there is no longer any threat to the city of Midgar."

They were in the fighting business, and although the goal was peace, they would find none of it themselves if they were to be kept in Edge.

"The WRO is involved in a few external operations, which we will be requiring one of you to assist with."

Yuffie's face split into a smile, and Vincent frowned when her hand grasped his wrist, obviously excited and oblivious to the implication in Reeve's statement. "Did you hear that, Vinnie?"

He didn't reply, waiting for Reeve to finish before he could begin to assess what to think of the whole situation.

"What we have lined up involves the gathering of information from an emerging power company in Nibleheim. They are harnessing kinetic energy from the waterfall, calling it hydro. They've been able to produce enough power to run Nibleheim for several months now. I have a team there now working through the political, environmental, and financial implications of the endeavor, but certain things will inevitably be glossed over in formal meetings. This does involve espionage, so Yuffie, you will be going."

Vincent wished one of them could have at least been a little pleased with having received what they had been wishing for, but he wasn't, and judging by the way Yuffie's hand slipped from his wrist to his hand, grasping it tightly, she wasn't either.

With only a moment's hesitation, he squeezed her fingers in response.

"You mean I'm going alone?"

"Yes."

"But--"

"Vincent is being stationed in Kalm for six months," Reeve interjected quickly. "We've gotten word that a small band of Deepground stragglers have been spotted near the border, and he will be helping to eradicate them and secure the city."

"A _small band of stragglers?_" Yuffie repeated in disbelief. "You have grunt men for that kind of work."

Reeve cleared his throat and stood. "I know the two of you prefer to work together, and when possible I have tried to accommodate this." He sighed and picked up a number of files off of his desk. "But there isn't enough of a threat right now for me to send my two heroes out together. Your talent needs to be spread out accordingly."

Yuffie slumped back in her chair with wide-eyed expression.

"All of your paperwork is here on my desk. You're both being deployed this afternoon: thirteen-hundred hours," he finished, sweeping out of the room as quickly as he had entered it.

"I'm going to quit," Yuffie declared, breaking the stunned silence that had settled around them. "I'll quit, and then I can go with you to Kalm."

"Yuffie…"

"No seriously. I don't need a job; I'm the freaking Princess of Wutai."

His hand shifted to lace his fingers through hers. He was trying not to think about the time they'd be spending apart, but rather focus on the warmth of her palm pressed against his. He knew he didn't need to argue with her, because after she made a resolute stand against the situation, she would remind herself of the honorable course of action and follow through with the promise she had made to Reeve.

She did make a stand-- she complained all the way to the parking garage, where she had followed him blindly in her rage, threatening several times to take that paper work off the WRO commissioner's desk and tell him to shove it someplace unpleasant.

"He can't just storm in and break us up, Vincent! We're partners! We do everything together! Vincent, I don't _want _to spend Ifrit knows how long in Nibleheim spying on some innocent energy endeavor that Reeve is too paranoid to trust. Not if you're not there with me."

She had paused momentarily when they reached the entrance to the garage, a curious look in her eye, but before she could ask a question, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along, allowing her to return to her previous line of thought.

"Vincent, _please_. Don't leave me."

He pulled abruptly on her arm, sending her stumbling forward and then pressed her back against his car. "I don't _want_ to leave you."

They say that in order to appreciate what one has, it must first be taken away. The blue light of the fluorescents overhead should have made her look pale and washed-out, but he couldn't stop thinking about how much he was going to miss her beautiful face.

She blinked away the moisture in her eyes, his words having sunk in enough for her to get the full effect. She clenched her eyes closed as he kissed her brow; an action that although was the most affectionate he had ever been toward her, felt natural and right.

As did the flutter in her stomach when he pressed his lips against hers, sighing like a weight he had been carrying had finally fallen away.

Yuffie's hands did not stay dormant at her sides for long. They were embedded in his hair the instant she felt his tongue slide against hers, grasping at whatever she could to keep him close—to draw out this feeling of bittersweet accomplishment. Fate was cruel—it had taken something that would make her so miserable to give her this moment; a moment that brought unspeakable joy and that would be followed by immense grief.

Breathless, they reluctantly parted, and as Vincent rested his forehead atop hers, allowing her arms to curl around his neck, they quietly reflected.

"Six months is a long time," Vincent murmured.

She stiffened, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Not for you—you spent thirty years in a coffin. Six months sounds like I'll just be gone for the weekend compared to that."

His gloved hand curled around her middle, pulling her body that extra bit closer. "Not if we leave like this."

She tilted her head up, forcing him to move his head back so she could look him in the eye. She was too tempted not to steal another short kiss, trying to remove the sullen look in his eye, and gently stroked his cheek with her thumb as she pulled away again. "I'll wait for you," she promised. The same thumb swept across his bottom lip. "I've waited this long; right?"

He offered her a brief, abbreviated smile. She was right, of course. Six months wasn't that long at all, but now that he finally had her in his arms, he desperately didn't want to let go. "And the next time?"

She desperately wanted to shout indignantly that there wouldn't be a next time—that Reeve wouldn't dare pull a stunt like this again, but she had had time to think, and the words the commissioner had said were beginning to make sense, and he was only doing what was logical. "And the next time," she echoed, although her voice wavered with the implications.

She felt his thumb on her waist—the slightest brush of movement sending a shock of electricity down her spine. She had no doubt that waiting these six months, and however long the next absence would be would be the easiest thing in the world for her, but she couldn't quite explain why.

His fingers moved on her skin again, holding her closer.

"Hey," she whispered. "We've got until after lunch, right?"

He looked at her, his eyebrows raised.

Her hand found the car door behind her and pulled it open; the echoing sound reverberating suggestively in his ears.

His next kiss was a thank you, because he knew she got awkward when he was being sincere with his words. The tempo quickly changed, however, because she knew exactly what he needed, and when they finally parted, she flashed him a grin before swinging the car door open wide and crawling inside.

Vincent took a moment to compose himself before he followed; giving the vacated parking garage a swift once-over to confirm their privacy.

He glanced back at Yuffie, who was sitting sideways in the passenger's seat, a wicked smirk set on her lips and a gleam in her eye.

Yes, she took care of him well, and her deeds did not just end at coffee.

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_A/N: Next chapter: phone sex. :3_


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